Increasing viewership of major league sports by enhancing game viewing experience has the potential to increase advertisement-based revenues. This applies to all major league sports, including, but not limited to, hockey (NHL), basketball (NBA), and soccer (MLS). A good example of such a game enhancing method is the existing First-Down Line (FDL). The FDL is a fluorescent yellow or orange line that appears on TV broadcast of football games. The FDL allows viewers at home to observe when a player gains a first-down. This FDL graphic is added to the broadcast video in real-time using a video-insertion technology introduced by PVI in 1998 and is described in detail in, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,264,933, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference, and by SportVision and is described in detail in, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,266,100 the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. The FDL has since become an integral part of NFL game broadcasts.
Similarly, statistical information about players and team performance as well as ongoing analyses of game progress may be a significant factor in improving game coverage, and, in doing so, increasing viewership. For example, analyzing team strategy and visualizing the teams' relative formation and advances in a playback during breaks could add useful insights into game dynamics. Another example of improving game coverage is using information that could be derived in real-time from puck shots in hockey.
The utility of such tracking data, generated throughout a sporting event, may not be limited to during-the-game statistics presentation for viewing/reporting enhancement. The tracking data collected in real-time during the sports event may, for instance, be archived into a database and used later to, for instance, index a library of games. Much information could be derived from such a database including, but not limited to, learning about the performance history of certain players or certain teams, doing comparative analyses between for instance players or teams, and generally computing statistics about any event of interest. It could also be used as a tool for training or demonstrating remarkable player and team maneuvers and tactics.
There are many types of applications that could be derived based on the positional data of the players and their team affiliation (the raw data), including various statistical analyses, graphical illustrations, and game dynamic visualizations. However, obtaining the raw data to produce such real-time tracking statistics presents many significant challenges. For instance, the large amount of video information that has to be analyzed from each frame of video, which may be high-definition video. Accomplishing this using current technology requires the development of innovative methods.